Nuclear Energy (sculpture)

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Nuclear Energy is a bronze sculpture by Henry Moore created between 1964 and 1966 (LH 526). It stands on the University of Chicago campus at the site of Chicago Pile-1, the world’s first self-sustaining nuclear reactor, where the first human-made nuclear chain reaction occurred on December 2, 1942. The sculpture sits on a square granite platform in a paved quadrangle, with radiating paving stones and memorial plaques on an adjacent wall. The site is a National Historic Landmark and Chicago Landmark.

Location and setting
- On Ellis Avenue, between the Max Palevsky West dormitory and the Mansueto Library in Hyde Park, Chicago.
- Placed at the spot where the Manhattan Project team built the reactor under the west stands of the old Stagg Field.

Commission and meaning
- Commissioned by the B. F. Ferguson monument fund.
- Moore described his idea as combining a mushroom-cloud-like top with a protective lower form, expressing both the creative and destructive potential of nuclear energy. The sculpture is meant to reflect the hopes and fears of the Atomic Age and to focus on the historical event rather than on any individual scientist.

Dimensions
- Height around 12 feet (about 3.7 meters) and diameter about 10 feet (about 3.0 meters) on a base about 1.5 feet high.
- Sources vary slightly; Smithsonian lists about 14 feet tall and 8 feet in diameter, while the university cites 12 feet tall.

Dedication and designations
- Unveiled on December 2, 1967 at 3:36 p.m., marking the 25th anniversary of the first self-sustaining reaction.
- The reactor site was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1965, added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1966, and named a Chicago Landmark in 1971.
- Four plaques on a nearby granite wall commemorate the site, the sculpture, and its historic status.

Related works
- A working model titled Atom Piece (Working Model for Nuclear Energy) from 1964–65 is on display at Hiroshima City Museum of Contemporary Art, Japan, and another version is at the Hakone Open-Air Museum.

Art context
- The sculpture’s abstract form emphasizes the broader significance of the event—the transition into the nuclear era—rather than the specifics of any person. It remains a focal point for discussions about the promises and dangers of nuclear power.